Apple TV iOS roots confirmed: jailbreak hacks ahoy!

Apple’s mysterious mention of an “iProd2,1” in the iOS 4.2 beta spotted earlier this year has turned out to be the newest Apple TV, prompting speculation that the set-top box might be a potential jailbreak target for enterprising hackers. Contrary to earlier rumors, Apple made little reference to the second-gen Apple TV’s underlying OS at its launch earlier this month; it had initially been expected that they would push iOS heavily and even bring the App Store to the STB.

However, there’s also speculation that the hacking potential of the Apple TV could turn out to be less flexible than its OS X based predecessor, since Apple has likely given it minimal memory; the out-of-the-box experience, after all, is based on streaming content rather than storing it. The new Apple TV is set to ship in 2-4 weeks time, priced at $99.